This is a tough issue for anyone to handle. So what can you do to convince your child to do something he does not want to do, such as go to a therapist, when he has a crying fit every time you mention it? Bribery typically does not work, so forget that approach. Take him on a car ride to somewhere that he wants to go, so that he is “locked in” with you and cannot escape. You could go to a mall or to get ice cream. The only two things that matters are that you are both going somewhere he wants to go and that it is a ride of more than a few minutes so that you can talk with him.
As you are driving and talking say to him: “I am not going to make you go to Dr. Smith, but I am just curious as to why you did not want to go.” At this point he will probably say something like “it is so boring every time that I see her.” I would not think that this is going to be the only discussion that you will have with him about his noncompliance and that after this conversation, magically he will agree to go to the therapist. I would merely take the first step and tell him (with rich examples) how many things that you do each day that are boring. That being said, I would explain to him, again in detail that many times one has to do boring things in order to learn new skills. You could use the example of practicing an instrument.
You do not want to push too hard during the first conversation, because your goal here is to that he talks to you again. Next time that you are in the car with him, you can begin (slowly and carefully) explaining to him what might happen in terms his interactions with others if he does not learn those skills.
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